"Are you alright?" Neil asked him.
Shang Ke made a face, '(〒﹏〒).' "I'm fine".
"Are you really alright?" Neil asked, full of doubt.
Shang Ke made another face, '(〒﹏〒).' "I'm really doing okay."
Neil and Saya both quietly inspected him. 'How does that expression on your face indicate that you're doing okay?'
Shang Ke could see the disbelief on their faces. He realized that his mask was probably showing a contorted expression. He pointed to his face and said, "Don't believe the expressions on my face. They're all fake."
When the Healing God transferred these diseases to him, it hurt badly. It felt like his entire body was coated with lava and he thought that he would break apart. He also felt some type of comfort following the initial pain. At times, he felt pain that made his soul shiver. However, he sometimes felt so comfortable as if his soul could ascend to heaven.
In the past, the Evil God could create a ruckus all over the continent. This wasn't simply because of his higher rank, but because of his terrifying abilities. The original Evil God had a preference towards slaughter and loved violent scenery. He was extremely powerful when it came to cursing others.
He was able to use all of the dark powers and negative emotions he felt to curse others. These curses included hatred, despair, jealousy, illnesses, bankruptcy, nightmares, voodoo curses, hallucinations, and many other emotions. As long as he mastered the curse, he could destroy the enemy with little effort. However, he had to have experienced it in order to turn that feeling into a curse.
The original Evil God didn't want to go through this, so he had only mastered a few curses. However, Shang Ke felt differently. His goal was to die in a heroic manner. He was willing to suffer from abuse without any fear. That way, he could manipulate death once he reached that point in his life.
He was not the same as the Death God whose sole purpose was to harvest deceased souls. The Evil God's curse determined how the target of the curse died as well as the time of target's death. If the target had the blessings of a powerful God like the War God, then the effects of the curse would be greatly reduced.
Shang Ke was different from the original Evil God, so he didn't want to follow the original's violent ways to rank up. Thus, the most worthwhile way to do this would be through self-abuse. He could gain strength without harming others, and he could also complete his mission.
He now felt convinced that this current world was an easy one. Using the Evil God's attributes, it naturally would make it easier to complete his mission.
Therefore, he should receive even worse damage! '╰(≧ˇ≦)╯！'
Saya and Neil, 'You don't have to force yourself to look happy....'
"God Uno." The Healing God suddenly spoke up, "I have given you what you wanted. Can you now take away the curse you imposed on my followers?"
"Didn't I already remove the curse?" Shang Ke's spiritual being kept flickering on and off like a lightbulb. It made others feel dizzy.
The expression on the Healing God's face turned cold, "There's still five others."
"Oh." Shang Ke let out a soft sound, "If I'm not mistaken, the disease you transferred belonged to these five people. Therefore, I won't remove the curse until I've recovered. It's a fair trade to replace the disease with a curse. We won't owe each other anything after this."
'Don't think that you can take advantage of this Evil God! The more pain this Evil God feels, the worse the curse would be.'
The Healing God should be happy that the War God and the Love God appeared. They hadn't saved Shang Ke, but rather he was saved instead. If the Healing God stuck to his plan of transferring half of the city's diseases to Shang Ke, then the diseases he transferred would turn into a curse for all his worshippers.
The Healing God did not realize that he had escaped from a terrible calamity. With the Love God and the War God showing him their might, he didn't dare to coerce Shang Ke. He could only give him a glare and disappear from his spot.
Once the Healing God left, Shang Ke drifted to the side. His facial expression looked as if he was about to either cry or laugh. He spoke, "Thank you for today."
"There's no need for thanks." Neil waved a hand and chose not to laugh at Shang Ke's contorted expression for the first time.
The War God silently stared at Shang Ke, as if he was just discovering who he really was.
At that moment, the room was full of cheers from the Shu Clansmen. Tima' s illness had been cured out of the blue.
"Thank the gods!" Even though they did not realize that Shang Ke was suffering with the disease in place of Tima, they still clearly conveyed their sincerity.
Shang Ke observed the people in that house. The joy his heart felt was clearly shown on his mask. '(*^ˇ^*)。'
Saya, 'If the Evil God had this bright smile on his face a thousand years ago, then he wouldn't have won that fight....'
Neil placed a hand on his chest. Why did he have a strange feeling in his heart? It was as if there was something scratching at it....
After the incident with the Healing God, Shang Ke still thought about his painful experience. He was racking his head over the "pain" part. In order to gain more power for cursing others, he needed to devote himself towards taking care of his followers. He must turn them into young talents the world envied. Once that happens, there would be shortsighted gods who would come to cause him trouble. If they made the first move, he could viciously fight them back with curses.
His main objective was to gain the approval of the War God. Therefore, he couldn't just go look for trouble from right under the War God's nose. He could only expect that others would come straight to him.
Shang Ke did not suffer for long from the disease. Within three days, it was turned into a curse. Unfortunately, it wasn't a terminal illness, plague, or any other major illness. Otherwise, he would have upgraded several ranks. The five people who suffered those days didn't dare to sleep. Once the curse was lifted, they collapsed.
On the other hand, there was peace amongst the Shu Clan. They received permission to establish themselves in the Yi Imperial City. Tima quickly sent someone to inform the chief, before she briefly stayed with a dozen clansmen in the city. They had plans to purchase some fields on the city outskirts to grow some grains and fruits. They also had plans to open a few exclusive stores of their brand.
Shang Ke made sure to stroll the alleys and streets during the daytime in order to help the Shu Clan. He was able to familiarize himself with his surroundings and gather information. He shared what he discovered and taught new skills in the form of dreams for the Shu Clan.
Through many discussions, the Shu Clan made it their priority to set up a shop in the city to sell different handmade items. Once they received firm footing, they could use what they earned to buy farmland.
Currently, they had a small population. That's why Shang Ke suggested they create an exclusive brand that belonged to them.
The Shu Clansmen didn't know about the concept of creating a brand with their products. However, they didn't have any doubts since the suggestion came from Shang Ke. They accepted his advice without objections and created a brand with the Evil God as it's face.
When Shang Ke saw the simple composite of the Evil God engraved on the farm tools, toys, and even embroidered on a women's skirt, he found it endearing.... However, he didn't know how the original Evil God would feel about this....
The items that the Shu Clansmen made combined different styles from around the world. They were practical but beautiful and unique. These items were very popular in the capital. Since Prince Yitamo backed their business, other businesses were afraid to cause them trouble. It was difficult to avoid following their original trend.
However, this was good for Shang Ke since the popularity of the 'Evil God' trademark made him gain fame. This led to some new indirect and some new direct followers.
Most people didn't follow one specific clan so they weren't firm with their faith. They would only be faithful worshippers if they could sense the blessings of a god.
He wasn't like the other arrogant and aloof gods. If he found a new worshipper, he would grant them a small blessing. These blessings would be listening to their concerns in their dreams, answering them about their doubts, teaching them new skills, guiding them, and much more.
It wasn't possible for him to grant them whatever they wanted. However, he put in more energy towards his followers when compared to other gods.
With his devoted efforts, it only took a year for his worshippers to grow from a couple hundred people to several thousands of people.
The Evil God trademark of the Shu Clansmen was deeply rooted in everyone's hearts. It was natural that business grew day by day. This led to certain forces scheming behind their backs. The Shu Clansmen received some attacks from time to time. However, Shang Ke absorbed all the negative energy which was then transformed into curses which went back to the instigator. It was a pity that he wasn't able to run into anything that would make him feel the danger of death.
The gods in the capital soon realized that they shouldn't mess with Shang Ke. It wasn't just because he was powerful, but also that he was a dark attribute god that the War God approved of.
"I heard that you created this fan?" Yitamo entered the courtyard as if it was his own abode. He swayed the fan back and forth while leisurely walking towards Shang Ke.
Even though the offerings from Uno's worshippers didn't elevate his power as the Evil God, they did recharge his soul and extended the periods of time he could appear in his corporeal form.
Whenever the Shu clansman went out, Shang Ke would materialize and reconstruct objects at home.
After accidentally discovering his secret hobby, Yitamo would visit uninvited with Neil tagging along.
During the consort selection dance last year, many rumors were exchanged. Yitamo didn't make a choice, but many people accepted that he was interested in Tima. Yitamo's parents seemed to think this way as well so they intended to wait it out before they allowed them to get engaged.
Today, Yitamo had a white robe with wide sleeves on. The edges of the sleeves were embroidered with gold. His waist was adorned with randomly placed but elegant gemstones. It had an exquisite feel.
Neil had on red attire with a blue girdle which was slightly open at the front, revealing his strong chest muscles. The clothes curved at the knees, revealing his slender legs with soft black open-toed boots. The entire outfit gave a sensual feel.
The two men had different tastes in fashion. The only similarity their clothing shared was the embroidered image of the Evil God inside their clothing.
Ever since the Shu Clan began to sell clothing, both Yitamo and Neil replaced their attire with the custom made attire of the Evil God. Their entire body was adorned with the Shu Clan's goods.
Recently, the two of them held special interest towards the homemade products of the Evil God. One such item was Yitamo's handheld folding fan.
"Uno, make me a fan. You can ask for whatever price you want." Yitamo sat down in the stone chair next to Shang Ke and gave him a smile.
Shang Ke played around with the item that was in his hands. He didn't look at him when he said, "I don't have time."
"Don't hastily refuse." Yitamo laughed. "How about I build the temple on the land that was purchased by the Shu Clan?"
Shang Ke lifted his head and squinted his eyes at Yitamo, '(﹁"﹁).' How much of a loser can you be to ask for a fan in a temple? Have you considered how the War God would feel if you built a temple for another god?
This was a great deal for Shang Ke. The fan that Yitamo requested was one made of rare metals and refined bone with golden silk for the fabric component rather than regular silk or paper. This would end up being called 'The Golden Dragon Bone Fan' which could be used as either a weapon or a decorative piece.
Neil sat to the side with a hand placed under his chin. He secretly watched the two men laugh and chat with each other. His thoughts were mainly focused on Shang Ke. In the past months, his thoughts were all over the place and he didn't speak as much as he used to. Whenever Yitamo looked for Shang Ke, he would tag along and sit quietly near them without saying a word.
Yitamo felt frustrated about the whole situation.
Neil was a talented god with many skills so he prevented Yitamo from having the chance to be alone with Shang Ke. Yitamo didn't realize that Neil had already connected a red string between Shang Ke and him. However, Neil still came to disrupt things between them. It was obvious Neil had some psychological problems.
After they spent the afternoon chatting, both Yitamo and Neil left.
They didn't realize there was a shadow secretly watching them from behind. As they left, the shadow turned its head to watch Shang Ke before its figure became faint and disappeared from the yard.
In the War God's temple, a blurry figure flashed across the sky before Saya sat himself down on a magnificently carved chair.
He felt that his own attire was outdated when he looked at the armor he had on for so many years versus the branded clothes that both Yitamo and Neil had on.